Buckle or similar article



Oct. 29, 1 940. v. DE Llso 2,219,514

BUCKLE OR SIMILAR ARTICLE Original Filed Nov.. 20, 1937 INVIENTO W35 BYflmeiw ATTORN EY Patented Oct. 29 1940 UNITED STATES PA EN "()FFIQE,"

Application Nvember'20, 1937, Serial No. 175,625

Renewed Marcln14, 19cm v 1 claim. (or. 24 69) This invention. relates'to a buckle ortongue fastener for use on shoes, coats, dresses orotherarticles of wearing apparel. g

It is an object of this invention to produce a 5 buckle or fastenerwhich'is: ornamental; and: yet highly efiicient in operation, andat thesame time is cheap to construct. 7

It is. a further object of this invention to provide. a buckle whichdoes not give discomfort to 10 the wearer, even where the sameisisubjected torelatively high stresses, such as, for example, in

ladies shoes. 1

And it is a further object of this invention .to provide a buckle havinga tongue. which is adapted to engage an eyelet, which tongue, when inthe opened position, is held substantially vertical to facilitate theinsertionoi the same thru the. eyelet.

These and other objects of. the invention will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art from the following description taken inconjunction with. the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective. view of a ladys shoe provided with a buckleconstructed in. accordance with the present invention. 1

Figs. 2 and 2A are perspective; views of my buckle inclosed and openpositions respectively.

Fig. this an exploded. veiw of the buckle shown in Fig. 2, showing indetail the parts thereof.

Figs. 3A and 3B are detail views.

Figs. 4 and 4A are perspective views of a modification shown in closedand open positions respectively.

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of the buckle shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5A is a detail View.

Referring in detail to the drawing the buckle or clasp I0 isseen'tocomprise a base plate I l stamped out of sheet steel in the shape shownin Fig. 3A. During the stamping operation the holes l2 are punched thruto permit the buckle to be sewed or otherwise attached to the shoe orarticle upon which the same is used. Arms I3 have protrusions or tits I4punched therein, which act as the pivotal support for the tongue 30 aswill be more fully described below. The tits are punched thru in such away that the bent-in fragments of the metal act as an axis for 20, thusavoiding the necessity of using separate pivoting 5O axes.

The plate is now pressed into the form shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with thearch l5 formed therein, and the arms I3 turned up at rightangles to theplane of the plate H.

A flat steel spring member 20, shaped as shown,

and having an arched curvature longitudinally thereof is. placed on topof the plate I l.- The curvature of 2&1 is greater than that of the arch#5; so. that the spring action is had in depressing 201' tocontactthroughout with IE. Holes 2| are out in the spring 20 to render the samesufficiently yieldablmwhile at. the same time permitting the use of aheavy enough steelso that the spring: will not crack orbreakiduringcontinueduse. The; recess 22: is formedin the'spring' 20 sothat while the same lieson' the plate ll: without'being attachedthereto; yet it is held in place by-the arms l3 and the tongue 30... I

Carried by; the arms-l3 is a tongue 30', which isv provided withrecesses 3| shaped to-receive 1 the tits [4 on the arms. l3, thusproiriding a pivotal mounting for the tongue. The tongue consists ofahead portion 32 and a tail 33. Since the tail. portion of the buckle issubstantially the only part ofthe device which is visible when in 20use-,.thetongue is preferably die cast of steel, and polished off topresent an ornamental. appearance. The-bottom. iace34 of the portion 32is preferably fiat so that when. the tail isdepressed the actionzofthespring 20 presses up against said face and holds the tongue in theclosed position. The surface 35, which contactsthe spring 213 when, thetail is raised'up to opeiithe buckle, is shaped with a flat area 36adjacent to the surface 35, which area merges into a curved area asshown. This enables the tongue to be easily pivoted about 3| after thetail is raised to open the buckle; and the flat area of this surface incooperation with the spring 20 causes the tail to remain in verticalposition when the tail is pivoted upwardly sufiiciently to pass thesurface 34 out of contact with 28, and the flat edge of 35 into contactwith 20.

It will be understood that in the use of this device, that once the tailis depressed until the 40 fiat face 34 snaps into contact with thespring 20, no matter how great the tension might be on the device, thesame will not open, but will tend to remain even more firmly closed.This result follows from the fact that the stress due tosuch tensionacts below the fulcrum 3| and serves to lock the tongue. However, when.it is desired to open the device, it is very easy to do so due to themechanical advantage of the lever arm 33.

In a device such as this, it is highly desirable that the tail be heldin a vertical position when the buckle is open, to facilitate theinsertion of the tall 33 thru an eyelet or hole 31 in the article beingbuckled. As already explained above 55 this desideratum is realized byvirtue of the cooperation between 35 and 20.

The assembling of the present device is extremely easy and inexpensivedue to the fact that the spring 20 is unattached, it being merely heldby the slots 22 which receive the arms l3. The only actual physicalunion of the parts is in forcing the tits l4 into the depressions 3|.

In order to provide a buckle which has the utilitarian features of theforegoing device, but in which it is tolerable to sacrifice the finenessand ornamental qualities of the same in the interests of economy, I haveprovided a. modification which is made entirely of stampings of sheetmetal, no die castings being used. Referring particularly to Figs. 4-5,the buckle 40 comprises a base plate 4| stamped out in the form shown inFig. 5A with the prongs 42 and 43. Tits 44 are formed on prong 43. Theprong 43 is turned up in the curved position.

The tongue 50 having integrally formed ears 5!. provided with holes 52to receive the tits 44 is first stamped out of a flat piece of sheetmetal and then bent into the form shown. A flat spring 60 is riveted orotherwise attached to the tail 53 at BI.

When the buckle is assembled, the tits 44 engage the holes 52 and theflat spring 60 rides on the edge of the prong 43.

When the buckle is closed the spring contacts the edge 45, thus tendingto pivot the tail 53 in a clock-wise direction about the fulcrum 43. Asexplained above in connection with the other modification when thebuckle is fastened the strain of the parts being held together by thebuckle tend to hold it locked.

Now, when the tail 53 is raised to open the buckle the flat spring ridesover the edge 45 and further upward motion of 53 causes the edge of toride underneath 45 and abut against the vertical part of 43. When 53 isat right angles to 4|, the edge of the spring 60 strikes the prong 43.Between this force and the force necessary to pull the spring over theedge 45 in the closing action of the buckle, the tail 53 is held in thevertical position. The need for this has already been set forth above.

In the actual use of this buckle, especially in ladies shoes wheresubstantial stress is placed on the parts buckled together, it will beseen that there is practically no component of the force placed on thebuckle, which acts at right angles to the plane of the base plate. Inother words there is practically no force acting to press the buckleagainst the wearer's foot. I have found in practice that in a shoeprovided with this buckle there is no discomfort due to the presence ofthe buckle, no matter how sensitive the spot of the foot at which thebuckle is mounted. The forces acting on the buckle are for the most partin the plane of the base plate and so close to the base plate that thereis practically no turning movement about the plate. In so far as I amaware, I am the first to provide a highly, ornamental buckle of thiskind which can be used as herein described.

Obviously, many changes in the specific embodiments disclosed hereinwill readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and I donot, therefore, intend to be limited in the scope of this inventionexcept as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I desire to claim and secure byLetters Patent of the United States:

A buckle of the character described comprising a base plate havingapertures at the opposite edges thereof for attachment of said plate tothe article to be provided with the buckle, said plate having anupwardly curved portion between said opposite edges, a pair of upwardlyextending arms at the opposite side edges of said plate substantially atthe center thereof between said opposite edges, a flat upwardly bowedspring disposed over said upper surface of the plate between said armsand having a greater curvature than said curved plate portion, and atongue pivotally mounted at one end thereof on and between said arms andhaving an extension at its said end provided with a relatively broad endsurface engageable with said spring centrally of the latter forreleasably holding the tongue in closed position, said connection of thetongue centrally of the plate causing the pressure of said tongue onsaid plate to equalize thereon.

- VINCENT DE L150.

